Ascension
by TgCid24
Summary: AU: A distraught 15 year-old Naruto leaves Konoha, running away from his problems. How will he handle it when he comes back four years later and is forced to face those problems? No pairings yet. I'm thinking NaruxHina or possibly NaruxTem UP FOR ADOPTION
1. Prologue

A/N: This is the first fic I've ever bothered to post.

-Pauses and waits for fanfare-

As such, I welcome any and all reviews (those with constructive criticism even more so).

About the story: Naruto is not going to be OMGSUPERPOWEREDOVERNIGHT! He's older, he's better trained, and yes, that makes him incredibly powerful, but he worked for it, and he's not a god or anything. I haven't put much thought into the future of this story...over the next few days I'll probably sit down and really start plotting it out, but the idea for this prologue just hit me and I had to write it down.

Without any further ado, I present to you:

* * *

**Ascension**

**By TgCid24**

**The Prologue**

* * *

It was raining. Cold, hard, and horizontally.

Konoha had seen it's fair share of rain over the years, but never like this. The first few days of it had been kind of exciting. At least, to Benka it had been kind of exciting, but a week later, it was starting to wear on his nerves. As one of the gate guards, his days were already quite boring, but with the rain driving people to shelter and preventing travel his job was even less exciting. The fourteen year old had always assumed that getting promoted to Chuunin would be exciting...boy was he wrong.

So, he found himself staring through the open gates and down a rain fogged road, his mind wandering freely.

_The trees look kind of otherworldly in this light, _he mused, _with all the mist it's very...hmm...what's the word I'm looking for? Phantasmic? Is that even a word? Phantasm is a word, so why wouldn't phantasmic be? __Yeah! That makes sense! It's phantasmic. I wonder what causes everything to look fuzzy like..._

Benka's thoughts trailed off when a figure crested the hill, trudging it's way towards the Konoha gates. A hood covered it's head, and the long black cloak it clutched around itself prevented any kind of guess as to it's gender.

_Long black cloak? Akatsuki?_

Benka tensed, a hand unconsciously dropped to his kunai holster. The Akatsuki, as far as he knew, had been dormant for two years now. After all, the majority of them were wiped out, but that didn't mean they were all gone.

The stranger strode confidently through the gate and stopped in front of the checkpoint, peering through the rain spattered window. Benka found himself staring into a pair of deep blue eyes.

"Nice day," said the man, for the voice was definitely male...it was a comforting sort of voice, full of humor and warmth. Benka relaxed instinctively.

"Right," Benka managed to say, drawing the word out skeptically. Eventually, the stranger shifted uncomfortably and Benka realized he had been staring at him for a while. He shook himself and went about doing his job. "Name and business?" he asked.

The man pulled his hood down. A big grin split his face, framed by yellow locks of hair. "Namikaze Naruto. I'm returning from an extended information gathering mission." He rummaged through the pack he had slung over his shoulder. Benka found his eyes drawn to the large, cloth-wrapped something strapped to Naruto's back.

"Ah ha," exclaimed Naruto, pulling out a sheaf of papers, "My identification."

Benka skimmed through them. "These papers are for an Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto cursed lightly under his breath, "Gomen," he said with a sheepish grin, "I completely forgot that I haven't been back to Konoha since I changed my name."

Benka found the page with his picture I.D. on it and held it up for a side-by-side comparison. The twelve-year-old in the picture had a very similar grin, spiky blond hair that was exactly the same shade, the same blue eyes, and a matching set of whisker marks on his cheeks. _Whisker marks? That's odd._ Looking up at the man's face, Benka found himself wondering how he hadn't noticed the marks before.

"I apologize sir, but I'm going to have to assign you an escort to the Hokage's office. If she can confirm your identity, there won't be any problems. It's standard procedure when we find discrepancies in someone's papers, you understand." Benka said in his best professional voice.

"Of course," agreed Naruto, his friendly smile never faltering.

Benka picked up a telephone receiver and waited. It dialed and rang automatically...a direct line to the guard barracks.

* * *

A short few minutes later, Naruto found himself following a young nin through the deserted, drenched streets of his home village. Four years, he had been gone. Four years in which he had managed to forget so much...to push it all to the back of his mind and lock it down tight, but now that he was back, it was all starting to bubble back up to the surface.

_"Make it quick, dobe. I did what I set out to do, now I don't have anything left," said Sasuke, his face oddly peaceful..._

Naruto shook his head clear, clamping down hard on that train of thought and shoving it back to the recesses of his mind where it belonged. Seeking something to keep his mind occupied, he focused on the young chuunin in front of him. The boy couldn't be more than thirteen, probably fresh out of the exams. He was a good head shorter than Naruto, who was by no means tall. Naruto shook his head, a sad smile on his face. _Was I ever that much of a shrimp?_

He shifted the leather strap around his shoulders, partially to settle it more comfortably and partially to make sure the scroll was still there. It was probably the most precious possession he owned now, and as someone who never had a lot, he was fiercely protective of what he had.

"The streets are awfully empty," remarked Naruto. The chuunin started in surprise, it was the first thing the man had said since he had picked him up at the gates.

"You kidding?" he responded, "Don't know 'bout where you come from mister, but here in Konoha, it's pretty natural for people to stay inside when a typhoon hits."

"A typhoon? This?" Naruto chuckled, "Nah, this is just a nice shower. You haven't seen typhoons till you've been to the Water Country."

"You've been to Mizu, sir?" asked the Chuunin, curiosity piqued. Travel wasn't something gennin and chuunin experienced very often.

"Yeah. Couple'a times. Rains for weeks at a time. No wonder they use almost nothing but water jutsu in Mizugakure."

"A couple of times? Where else have you been?" the Chuunin asked.

"All over, that's all I can say, sorry." Naruto smirked when the kid seemed disappointed.

After a few minutes of silence, the chuunin spoke up again. "I'm sorry sir, I never got your name...I'm Miyamoto Hanzo,"

"Namikaze Naruto," he offered with a grin.

"Is this your first time in Konoha, Namikaze-san?" Hanzo asked politely.

Naruto chuckled, "No, Konoha is my home, but I've been gone for quite a while. I'm not surprised that a lot of the younger generation don't recognize me."

"Younger generation?" Hanzo puzzled out loud, "No offense sir, but you don't seem that much older than me."

"Heh, I guess not. I'm only nineteen," Naruto said. _But you, Miyamoto Hanzo, are still just a kid, and I pray you stay that way, _he added silently.

Deep in the back of his mind, he felt a stirring. _Ah, finally awake I see, Kitsune-chan._

**"Shut up, gaki," **Kyuubi growled.

_You could've at least kept me company, baka,_ Naruto grumbled mentally. _Walking by yourself...in the rain, just sucks._

**"I'm not going to apologize for napping instead of watching you walk, so drop it." **A few moments of awkward silence passed between demon and container before the Kyuubi broke it. **"I hate this place,"** he said petulantly.

Naruto's gaze fell on the Hokage Monument. _Maybe, but it's home. _The Kyuubi remained silent, and Naruto lost himself in thought.

"Namikaze-san?" asked Hanzo. Naruto realized that the young chuunin must of been calling his name for some time now.

"Gomen, what did you say?"

"I said, 'We're here,'" Hanzo replied.

Naruto looked up and was surprised to find himself standing in front of the doors to the Hokage's office. The ANBU guard on the left nodded to them and knocked on the door.

"Enter," replied a voice that Naruto easily recognized. The ANBU who knocked pushed the doors open and waved them in.

"Hey, Obaa-chan!" Naruto greeted loudly.

* * *

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock. She knew that voice, it was deeper than she remembered, but she still knew it. It stirred up some painful memories:

_"What do you mean you want to leave?" Tsunade asked, doing her best to keep her voice even and controlled._

_"I--want--to--leave," he enunciated._

_"Why?" she asked through gritted teeth._

_Naruto sighed wearily. "A week, Obaa-chan. It's only been a week since...it happened," Naruto's voice hitched slightly, "and I already can't stand it. The glares, the hatred...if it was just that, I might be okay, but the bastards have been tacking pictures of...him to my door every day. They all blame me! They'll never let me forget, even if I tried. It's driving me crazy!"_

_Tsunade's expression softened. "Look, Naruto, I know it's hard, but you can't just walk out. It's either retirement or you become a missing-nin and have to deal with all of the hunter-nin."_

_"B--but, you and Ero-sennin, you were gone for years!" he argued._

_"I was retired, and Jiraiya was on a long term mission," she replied._

_"But what about when Ero-sennin took me on a training trip?" he shot back._

_"You were assigned to him as an apprentice. Master-Apprentice rights supercede most laws governing the comings and goings of a shinobi."_

_"Super--wha?" Naruto asked, baffled._

_Tsunade sighed irritably. "Basically it means that because the old pervert was your Master, he could take you anywhere he wanted, within reason, and Konoha couldn't say jack about it."_

_"Oh..." Naruto said, his face scrunched up in concentration. "Well, can't you send me on a long term mission?" _

_She could detect just a hint of desperation in his voice. She blew out another deep breath and looked around her, as if she were searching for an answer. Her eyes fell on the framed portrait of the Yondaime and the beginnings of an idea started to form. A way to kill two birds with one stone. She'd been dreading have to tell him; she knew it would be hard for him to handle, but if she just gave it to him, sent him on a little trip--maybe as a spy, or to help gather information from the Konoha networks? Yeah! That would work--he would be gone when he found out, and he could have plenty of time to deal with it before he came back._

_A sly smile quirked at the corners of her mouth. "I think I might have an idea," she said. _

"_Really? What is it?" _

"_Shut up a minute and I'll tell you," she replied, pushing herself out of her seat._

_Naruto beamed at her as she made her way over to the line of portraits on her wall and pulled on the Yondaime's. It swung out on a hidden hinge, revealing a safe. With a few deft twists of a knob, the door clicked. _

_Tsunade paused and looked over her shoulder at him. "No one hears about this...ever, right?"_

_"Yeah, sure Baa-chan."_

_She resisted the urge to punch him through the wall masterfully and turned back to the safe. "Stupid gaki and his stupid nicknames," she muttered to herself._

_With a quick motion, she punctured her thumb on a small needle under the handle, then swiped said thumb over an almost invisible kanji. The door clicked again._

_She leaned in and whispered, too quiet for anyone to hear, "Will of fire."_

_The door clicked one last time and swung open. The only thing inside was a scroll...a really, really big scroll. It scraped against the sides of the safe when she pulled it out, and knocked Naruto over when she tossed it to him. _

_"What's this?" Naruto asked after he struggled back to his feet. He reached out an arm to unseal it and see for himself, but Tsunade's voice froze him._

_"Wait! Don't open it here!" she hissed._

_"Why?" he asked curiously._

_"It's full of a lot of sensitive information. Information that we don't want _anyone_ knowing, at least not right now."_

_"Cool! Is it some super secret Konoha kinjutsu scroll?" he asked eagerly, all traces of the depressed boy from moments ago had vanished._

_"Um...sure," she said. "Now listen up!" _

_Naruto, who had been gazing almost lovingly at his "super secret Konoha kinjutsu scroll" snapped his attention back to her._

_"The people who wrote that scroll wanted you to have it once you turned fifteen. Things have been kind of hectic, so I haven't been able to give it to you until now. I'm officially assigning you to a long term training mission, but your real purpose will be to read that scroll, and master it's contents--"_

_She was cut off by a loud shout of "YATTA!"_

_"Indeed," she continued, "There's no set time limit, just come back when you're ready. All long term missions are automatically B-ranked at the least, we'll bump it up to A-Rank for you, since you're carrying around an S-ranked secret--" she paused and pointed to the super secret Konoha kinjutsu scroll, "--so you should have a nice bit of pay accumulated when you return."_

_"Wow, thanks Obaa-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning widely._

_"Yeah, yeah, whatever, gaki," she said affectionately, "Now go pack, you'll leave in the morning."_

_In a flash, Naruto was out the door. _

_Tsunade stared at the door, a sad smile on her face. He may be irritating, but she was really going to miss that kid._

And miss him she did, but he was here, he was right in front of her. Without so much as thought, she was moving.

* * *

"Erk!" was all Naruto could say with Tsunade's arms cutting off most of his air supply and his face buried in her large...ahem "assets." If he could breathe it might have been kind of nice...if she wasn't the closest thing he had to a living mother that is.

Eventually, she pulled back, sniffled once, wiped away a stray tear, and then glared at him.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Four years? When I told you to take as long as you needed, I didn't expect four years!" she said angrily.

"Yeah, eheh," he chuckled bashfully, scratching the back of his head. "Well, this sucker kind of had a lot of stuff in it--" he patted the scroll, "--and it took a long time just to learn it all. Then things kept coming up...but I'm back now." He finished with a charming grin.

She smiled in return. "That you are."

Naruto looked around curiously. Not much had changed really.

Hanzo cleared his throat. Tsunade did a double take. "Hanzo? What're you doing here?"

"Escorting Namikaze-san, Hokage-sama," Tsunade did another double take, "His given name did not match the name on his papers. I assume that you vouch for him?"

"Yes, yes, of course," she waved her hand dismissively, "Go back to the barracks and get a good night's sleep, eh Hanzo? No sake, right? We don't want to see what happens when we show up for duty late again, do we?"

Hanzo blushed, "Hokage-sama, you know I don't drink, I'm underage!"

"Of course," she smirked. "Go home, Hanzo, I wish to speak with Naruto alone."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hanzo bowed to her then turned to Naruto. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Namikaze-san. I look forward to seeing you around the village." Naruto nodded and Hanzo let himself out, shutting the doors gently behind him.

"Sit down, gaki," said Tsunade, motioning to the seat in front of her desk. Naruto flicked a catch on the scroll's leather strap. It thunked to the floor and he leaned it against the arm of the chair.

He settled himself comfortably beside it and said, "Oi! You can't call me 'gaki' anymore! I'm almost twenty years old, Obaa-chan."

"And technically, you can't call me Obaa-chan anymore, because I'm your Hokage," she shot back. Naruto chuckled merrily.

"Good point, Obaa-chan."

Tsunade plopped down in her chair and propped her feet up on her desk. "So, have a good trip?" she asked casually.

"Yeah! It was awesome!" he said enthusiastically, "You should think about making a training trip mandatory or something!"

"Why's that?" she asked. His enthusiasm was contagious, she felt a grin of her own spread across her face.

"I learned so much, just by passing through villages. If I ever have to fight, oh...let's say a Mist-nin, after watching a few of them spar over a couple of months, I can tell you what moves they're likely to open up with. I can tell you what type of jutsu they specialize in based on their opening moves, and how to counter it, because I saw them do it. It was like they were showing me their own weaknesses! And when I was in Iwa I saw--"

"Wait," Tsunade interrupted, "you were in Iwa? How in the hell did you survive in Iwa? They're not exactly friendly with Konoha shinobi, especially Konoha shinobi with blond hair, and _most especially_ Konoha shinobi with blond hair who are carrying around a scroll that says 'I'm the Yondaime Hokage's son.'"

"Yeah, I got really well acquainted with **Henge no jutsu** while I was there." He paused, and in less than breath, was replaced by a man with dark red hair and bright green eyes. "And the scroll had taught me enough fuuinjutsu that it was a cinch to hide it."

"Impressive. No seals, no words, and almost instantaneous, and you've started to learn fuuinjutsu. It will be interesting to see how much you've improved when we test you."

With a poof, Naruto was in the seat again, smiling widely. "So, will I be fighting Kakashi-sensei again?"

"We'll see," she smirked. A comfortable silence settled between them while they beamed at each other.

A few minutes later, Tsunade's smile started to falter. "So...are you okay...with everything?" she asked tentatively.

Naruto's face fell a little. "I think so...good enough that I can take whatever the villagers throw at me at least.

"And that?" she asked, nodding towards the scroll.

"Oh yeah! That's great. Kaa-san and Tou-san explained everything to me. I know why they did what they did, why things worked out like they did, and most importantly...I know that they loved me; that they actually really wanted me. Plus, the Uzumaki and Namikaze jutsu are kick ass!"

Tsunade chuckled. "So, you're going to go by Namikaze now?"

Naruto nodded fervently. "No offense to Kaa-san's family, but I should take my father's name, don't you think?"

"Yes, you should," she looked at him nervously, "but the council won't be happy when they find out who you are. Da...I mean, some of them were happy when they Yondaime was gone, and they won't be happy to find out that his legacy is also his progeny."

Naruto looked confused. "Pro...wha?"

Tsunade chuckled again. In the past, she would have been irritated by now, but she was just too happy that he was back to care. "They won't be happy that you're his child."

"Oh. Well screw them then!" he proclaimed loudly. Tsunade's chuckle worked itself into a full belly laugh.

"You look so much like your father," she said after she calmed down, "but you're spirit is all Kushina." Naruto smiled shyly and rubbed the back of his head. "After you left, I took the liberty of assigning a weekly D-rank mission to clean your parents' house. It should be in order, if you're ready to move in."

Naruto's eyes widened comically. "I get a house?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course, didn't the scroll mention it?" Tsunade asked, her face twisted into a mask of confusion. "A house is kind of a big part of an inheritance."

"Well, yeah, but it didn't say that it was passed down to me. I really get a house?"

Tsunade's face relaxed into a smile again. "Yes, you really get a house."

"YATTA!" Naruto leapt to his feet and hugged his scroll tightly. "Thank you, Tou-san, Kaa-san," he whispered to it, too quietly for Tsunade to hear.

"Come on, gaki," said Tsunade, standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll show you to your knew house."

* * *

A/N: And thus ends the prologue

-Pauses and waits for fanfare again-

What did you think? Did it suck? Did it rock? Review and tell me!

I have a request, for anyone in the know: I'm looking for a site that can take an english phrase and translate it to romanized japanese (or the next best thing, if you know of something) for any original jutsu I might come up with. I suck at Japanese, I know almost nothing about it, so please don't make fun of me for it.

Bye for now!

P.S. Flamers, you will be ignored...harshly. You have been warned!


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome to Chapter 1 of Ascension! I really appreciate the reviews for my prologue :D

Anyways, I'm enjoying writing the story so far. Once I get a feel for where it's really going, I'll start looking for a beta, but I'd rather not pick one up just to drop the story a few chapters in because I never really planned it out right.

Well, everything else I have to say can wait till after the chapter, enjoy!

* * *

**Ascension**

**By TgCid24**

**Chapter 1: Welcome Home**

* * *

In the master bedroom of his very own modest, yet stylish house, Naruto slept fitfully. Dreams, as they so often did, haunted him.

* * *

_Naruto took his first break just a few hours outside of Konoha. _

_All in all, he was feeling pretty good. If the landmarks were anything to go by (and they usually were) he had already passed the spot where he and the rest of Team 7 had encountered their very first enemy shinobi...the Demon Brothers. At this rate he would be in Wave Country in two days, maybe less. _

_It was an odd feeling, he had decided, to be out on his own away from his home. He had been almost terrified to take his first step, but each step after the first made it easier and easier until it felt just like any other mission...only without a team to back him up...as in by himself...okay, so maybe he was still a little nervous._

_He unceremoniously plopped his gear down, pulled out a pot and filled it with water from a nearby stream, lit a fire, and started the water to boiling. _

_While he was waiting for it to boil he turned his attention to the scroll._

_"Finally!" he said...out loud...even though he was by himself...any other person might have thought that odd, but Naruto didn't seem to notice. "I get to see what the big secret's about. These jutsu had better be pretty damn good!"_

_He popped the wax seal that held it closed and started to unroll it. Well, at least he _tried_ to unroll it. The scroll, however, remained firmly shut. Only a small flap would peel away, revealing nothing._

_"What the?" he said to himself...again. He tugged on the open end of the scroll harder and got the same result. _

_Naruto growled in frustration and tried one more time. The minutes continued ticking on by while he continued his fruitless attempts to open the scroll. _

_He tried standing on the open end and pulling the scroll up; that ended with him planted tail-bone first in the ground. _

_He secured the open end under a large boulder and threw the scroll as hard as he could...then he had to waste time tracking down the still unopened scroll somewhere off in the woods. _

_The last thing he tried was banging the scroll against a tree, but that didn't really accomplish anything beyond stress relief._

_Frustrated and hungry, he tossed the infuriatingly _closed_ scroll on the ground next to his pack, dug out a cup of instant ramen, and stirred in the now boiling water. _

_Several minutes of ramen induced euphoria later, a much more relaxed Naruto returned to the puzzle that was "the scroll" and studied it once again._

_After several long minutes of quiet contemplation he stood, left hand on his hip and right hand pointing defiantly at the scroll. "All right you damn scroll, OPEN!" he bellowed. The scroll continued to quietly mock him._

_Naruto let out a defeated sigh and slumped back down in front of his new enemy, eyeing it distastefully. Why couldn't it just be something simple? Why couldn't he just yank one end of the scroll and watch it unroll? _

_Maybe there was some kind of technique he needed to do? Did he miss something Tsunade had said to him when she pulled the scroll out of the safe...?_

_"The safe?" he whispered to himself, looking back down at the scroll. Maybe it opens like the safe?_

_He dropped to his knees and studied every inch of the scroll. "No twistable knobs, so it's not a combination lock. Hmm...what did she do next?" _

_A brief image of Tsunade pricking her thumb on a needle flashed through his mind. He turned the scroll over so that the sealed portion faced up, bit his thumb, and smeared the blood across a nearly invisible line. His body quivered in nervous anticipation._

_His blood slowly seeped into the paper and completely disappeared. At the same moment, kanji that read "blood seal" lit up and glowed, right where the blood had been._

_There was a slight _snick_, like a knife sliding across paper, and the scroll came slightly unfurled._

_"YATTA!" yelled Naruto, pumping his fist in the air victoriously. He burst into an excited jig and was halfway through it before he remembered why he had wanted to open the scroll in the first place: To read it. _

_In less than a second, he was on the ground in front of the scroll again. The first section of the scroll looked like a letter...addressed to him._

Dear Naruto,

Happy fifteenth birthday!

It's kind of sad for us to write that, knowing that if you're reading it, it means we probably never saw more than your first birthday.

On the upside of that, if you're reading this, then we stopped the bastard!

As we write this, the Kyuubi no Kitsune is burning a slow, methodical path towards Konoha. If that path holds true, we will have to engage him before the week is out. So, in preparation for the likely event that we will soon lose our lives, we have compiled the combined knowledge of our clans for you, our son, into this scroll.

_Our son_, it's an amazing feeling to just _think_ those words. You won't be born for a few more days according to the medic-nin, but we already love you more than life itself

But information storage was only the secondary function of this scroll, as far as we are concerned. Its main purpose is to allow us to have at least _some_ way to tell you that we love you; to pass on what little bits of parental wisdom we'll be able to; to tell you something that every child needs to know: Someone cares, someone wants to be with them, and that is our most fervent hope son; that we'll get to be with you.

If the fates don't smile on us and we're gone, please understand that it wasn't what we wanted, because we didn't want to leave you behind.

If everything did work out...well, you wouldn't be reading this scroll then. If everything worked out, but you're still reading, YOU ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE YOUNG MAN!

Hehe, anyway, we have a lot to do, so, before we finish off this letter and get to sealing everything into the scroll, allow us to impart our bits of parental wisdom.

Dad says: You'll be a great ninja some day, but the most important thing is not being a great ninja, it's being a great man. Always do what is right, even if it's against the rules. Do that, and I'll be a proud, proud man. A father couldn't hope for more.

As far as women are concerned...well, I'm just as lost as you probably are. All I can say about them is 1) Listen to what they have to say, absorb it, don't just hear it and forget, or you'll get hit, hard. 2) Never, ever listen to Jiraiya if he tries to give you advice about women...ever. I love you son.

Mom says: I love you, my baby boy! Be a gentleman, brush your teeth and wash all of your cracks and crevasses. If you become a ninja, then kick major ass. If you don't become a ninja, kick major ass at whatever you do become. No matter what happens, I'll be proud of you, because you're my son, and dammit, that's all I need to know!

With all of our love,

Uzumaki Kushina, Heiress and Last Scion of the Uzumaki clan

Namikaze Minato, Heir and Last Scion of the Namikaze clan, Yondaime Hokage.

_Naruto silently mouthed the words "Yondaime Hokage" again and then paused to process what he had read._

_"WHAT!" his scream echoed through the forest._

_Naruto found himself feeling a lot of things all at once. A confusing cornucopia of emotion._

_He was so sad that he wanted to cry, but he was so happy that he wanted to finish the jig he'd started when he opened the scroll. He was feeling at peace, knowing that someone out there had truly and deeply loved him, but he was so angry at his father for landing him with the burden his life had been that he wanted to scream. _

_All of his thoughts swirled together and threatened to overwhelm him. His heart was beating so fast it sounded like it was humming in his ear. He was taking quick shallow breaths. His eyes were darting around the clearing at random._

_Finally, he snapped and vented his frustration in the only way that most men his age know how...by hitting things, hard. The poor trees never stood a chance, but the clearing grew by leaps and bounds that day..._

* * *

Cerulean eyes snapped open and took in the unfamiliar ceiling above him. The blur of tears fogged the view for a minute before Naruto could groggily wipe them away.

Almost instinctively, he stretched a hand out to feel around for his parents' scroll, just to make sure it was still there, propped against the wall by his head.

With a groan, he rolled over and checked the clock.

_4:45 a.m._

Naruto let loose another groan and rolled out of bed. It was early, but he'd never be able to get back to sleep now.

His tired gaze took in his brand new master bedroom and a small smile quirked his lips. The queen size bed was nice and squishy, just the way he like it, but other than that the room was a little spartan. Just a dresser, a small vanity that he assumed was his mother's, and a few random paintings. But all in all, it was much nicer than anything he was used to.

A loud buzzing noise shook him from his reverie. He'd forgotten that he'd set his alarm for five.

Quickly, Naruto went about his usual morning rituals. He dragged his bed cap off his head, tossed it on top of his comforter, and made for the shower.

After he was clean, all the way down to his smallest tooth, he tossed a chain mesh shirt on, covered it with his orange flak-vest, slid into his black combat pants, and slipped his long black cloak over it all. Giving himself a cursory once-over in the mirror, he nodded at his reflection and grabbed the strap of his scroll, secured it behind his back, and went to prepare himself some breakfast before his morning training session.

Naruto took no more than a few steps before he realized he had forgotten something. He turned back to has half emptied travel pack, rummaged through it for a few moments, and pulled out his old hitai-ate...proof that he was a Konoha shinobi, and damn proud of it. Now that he was back in the village again, he could wear it without fear. The small smile he'd been wearing since he woke up widened a little more.

* * *

Two hours later, a well-fed Naruto found himself staring at the doors of the Hokage's office for the second time in as many days.

The rabbit-masked ANBU to his right nodded in greeting and knocked once.

"Enter."

The ANBU pushed the door open for Naruto and waved him through.

"Yo," greeted a familiar voice.

Naruto pulled up short, sapphire eyes drinking in the all together unexpected scene.

"What's up, kid?" called another, just as familiar voice.

Kakashi leaned comfortably against one side of Tsunade's desk, and standing on the other side, arms crossed was... Jiraiya?

He hadn't expected to see the perverted old man any time soon. He'd just seen the man two months ago in Suna, on his way to _the other side_ of Wind Country...how in the hell did he end up all the way back here?

"Ero-...sennin?" The old man's eye twitched in annoyance.

Before the Toad Hermit could respond, however, a groggy, pathetic voice interrupted. "Could you guys not yell?" Tsunade asked grumpily.

Now that Naruto's attention was drawn to her, he could see the blood-shot eyes and hastily applied make up; sure signs of an Obaa-chan hangover.

"Obaa-chan...have you been drinking?" he asked intelligently.

"Shuddap," she slurred, clutching her forehead. "Just...just take him to the training ground you two, give me some peace and quiet until I can get my coffee, neh?"

Kakashi, face in his book as usual, simply nodded and disappeared through the window. Jiraiya, however, laughed loudly at his former teammate.

"Ah, poor Tsunade-hime," he teased, "can't hold her sake."

Tsunade never lifted her head from her hands, but her fist connected with his face easily enough.

"Heh saw that coming," muttered Naruto.

Jiraiya, clutching his nose, turned to Naruto and said in a nasally voice, "C'mon kid, Training Ground 50." Naruto nodded and followed the man out the open window.

Once he felt they were a safe distance away from the tower, and Tsunade's wrath, Naruto spoke up.

"Neh, Ero-sennin--" Naruto paused for the obligatory threats the man always muttered when he heard his nickname, "What're you doing here? I thought you were going to check a rumor on the other side of Wind Country?"

"What, not happy to see me?" Jiraiya asked. "Surely you've missed my razor sharp wit; my indefinable, yet undeniable charm?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Naruto deadpanned, waving his questions off, "and _you're_ dodging the question, old man."

Jiraiya's smiling face turned grim. "I can't tell you right now, Naruto. It's sensitive info, and until Tsunade-hime says otherwise, it's need-to-know."

An uncomfortable silence fell over them. Finally, Jiraiya broke it, "What's with the cloak? You didn't have it the last time I saw you."

"Pretty cool, eh? Gaara gave it to me the day I left Suna to come back home," Naruto said proudly, a wistful smile on his face.

"It makes you look kind of like an Akatsuki," Jiraiya remarked.

Naruto's face fell and Jiraiya cursed inwardly. He hadn't meant to bring anything like that up.

"Yeah," Naruto finally said, an obviously fake smile plastered across his face, "intimidating, isn't it?"

"Sure, kid," Jiraiya answered with a bright smile, his cheer just as obviously fake, "very intimidating."

The roof tops passed beneath the now silent pair in a blur. Within a few minutes, they were on the very edge of town and Naruto started to look around uneasily. "Ero-sennin?" he asked, breaking the silence.

The man grunted in acknowledgement. "Where exactly is Training Ground 50?"

"Heh, you'll see," Jiraiya said mysteriously. They continued on in a straight line, over the walls of Konoha and into the forest. A couple of miles out, they finally came to rest at the edge of a gigantic clearing.

Kakashi was already there, leaning against a tree, reading his book.

Naruto looked around curiously for a moment. "This place...it feels familiar," he said, mostly to himself.

His eyes searched the ground for any familiar landmarks, and then gradually made their way up into the trees.

Above a particularly thick branch in the tree on the opposite end of the clearing, Naruto saw three suspicious looking holes drilled into the trunk. A mental image overlaid itself onto that trunk...Sakura, trapped in a giant hand of sand, slowly being crushed.

"This is the clearing where I fought Gaara!" he blurted out.

Both of his former mentors chuckled and Kakashi spoke up for the first time. "Yeah," he agreed, "well...a few months after you left with Jiraiya-sama, the ANBU Demolition Squad requested permission to test some of their more...volatile experimental explosives. Hokage-sama didn't exactly want half of her village blown up just to test some new explosives, so she told them to find some place outside the village to do it.

"As you might have guessed, they found this spot and thought it was perfect. Pretty soon they started doing all of their test runs here...eventually it became a sort of unofficial training ground."

Kakashi eye-smiled at him, "Hokage-sama thought that you might need a little...um...space, to cut loose for you test."

"Cool," Naruto said, an evil grin spreading across his face, "I won't have to hold back too much then."

"You really think that holding _anything_ back against Jiraiya is a good idea?" The Hokage's voice seemingly came from nowhere. She materialized right in front of them, clutching a cup of steaming coffee, and smirked at Naruto. "He is a Sannin, after all...even if he is a pervert."

"Super pervert, thank you very much," Jiraiya interjected, a smirk of his own directed at Naruto. "I won't be holding back kid. I really intend to push you."

Naruto's grin widened, the Sannin's smirks disappeared. "I'm fighting Ero-sennin? Let's do it then! I haven't had a good spar in a while," Naruto said happily, rubbing his hands together. Jiraiya simply nodded his agreement.

They positioned themselves a few dozen yards apart and bowed to one another. "Don't worry kid, I'll try not to kill you," taunted Jiraiya, running a hand arrogantly through his long white hair. Naruto's grin only got wider.

Tsunade appeared between them, an arm raised. "Ready?" she asked, and without waiting for a response, she chopped her hand downward and shouted "HAJIME!"

The word had barely left her mouth before she retreated to a limb just above Kakashi's spot. The Copy-nin had stowed his precious book to watch the action.

The two opponents stared at each other for a few seconds. "Are you going to fight or not?" called Tsunade. In response, Naruto lifted a hand to the strap across his chest, flicked the catch, and caught the scroll in one smooth motion. Without a word, the scroll disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a giant throwing star.

"I see he's gotten better with **Henge no Jutsu** (Transformation Technique)," commented Kakashi.

Jiraiya smirked. "You should know by now that shuriken, no matter how big, aren't very effective against higher level shinobi," he said.

Naruto smirked, nodded, and threw the shuriken at him anyway. In a swift, smooth motion that belied the white hair and crow's feet around his eyes, Jiraiya dodged to the left, eyeing the shuriken as it went by.

'_Not even a shadow shuriken? I'm insulted!' _he thought to himself.

The Sannin turned his eyes back to Naruto...only to find him not there anymore.

His black eyes wandered carefully over the training grounds, all of his senses drawing chakra to enhance themselves, searching for any sign of his blonde opponent. A small rumbling noise alerted him at the last second and Jiraiya leapt to his right, avoiding the grasping hand that shot up out of the ground.

Catching nothing but air, the hand pushed against the ground and propelled Naruto the rest of the way out. He still had a big, stupid grin on his face.

The blonde blurred into a lunge, fist extended for a punch. Jiraiya tilted his head slightly, letting the fist go by, and slammed his own into Naruto's gut. "Too slow kid, too sl--" the Sannin's taunt trailed off when Naruto exploded into a cloud of smoke.

"**RASENGAN!" **shouted a voice from behind.

"Looks like Naruto's taking this seriously," said Kakashi, watching dispassionately as his former student appeared behind Jiraiya, a swirling ball of chakra in his hand. The rasengan drilled into the Sannin's back, sending him spinning across the clearing before coming to a stop with an almighty thud against a boulder.

"Yes, but I was hoping to see something new, they're both holding back a lot," sighed Tsunade, "I told Jiraiya I wanted him to push the kid, not play around with him!"

Naruto looked at his handiwork and smirked, even when Jiraiya melted into a mud clone.

The real Jiraiya materialized behind him and planted a kunai in his arm...Naruto exploded into a cloud of smoke again.

"Another kage bunshin?" Jiraiya growled, "haven't you learned anything new?"

"Of course I have!"

Kakashi and Tsunade started when a small tree next to them poofed into a cloud of smoke and revealed Naruto, still grinning like a madman.

"Wanna see?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, dammit!" shouted Jiraiya, scowling at his apprentice, "that's what we came all the way out here for!"

"Okay then, here goes nothing!" Naruto's hands quickly ran through a short series of seals, stopping on hitsuji (ram), and he bellowed at the top of his lungs: "**Ninpo: Junbuu no Jutsu**! (Ninja Art: Favorable Wind Technique)."

A breeze picked up around Naruto, rustling his hair and billowing his cloak out, flashing the orange vest underneath.

The others looked around curiously. After several seconds, they all turned their attention back to Naruto.

"Umm...Naruto?" began Kakashi.

"Hmm?" the young man responded.

"What exactly does that jutsu do?"

"Oh, not much, it's just a genjutsu I learned...I think it makes me look cool, don't you?" asked the blonde innocently. "With my hair and cloak blowing in the wind I look totally bad ass!"

Kakashi stared dumbly at him; Tsunade smacked her palm to her forehead and winced when it reignited her headache.

"You stupid gaki; stop screwing around and fight me seriously!" yelled Jiraiya.

Naruto looked around and, seeing that no one really seemed to appreciate his cool new jutsu, he shrugged and nodded. "Okay, if you really wanted to see some of my new stuff, all you had to do was ask." He stepped forward, back into the clearing.

"Did you see when he transformed into the tree?" Kakashi whispered to Tsunade once he was out of earshot.

She shook her head no. "Must've been when we were all concentrating on the shuriken, but, he'd have to be fast for that, really fast."

Meanwhile, Naruto was flashing through a long series of seals. "This one's an original," he explained casually. His hands stopped on the seal he usually used for Kage Bunshin and he called out: "**Namikaze Naruto Hijutsu: Genson Bunshin**! (Namikaze Naruto Secret Technique: Living Clone)"

"Living clone?" Kakashi wondered aloud. A visible amount of chakra swirled around Naruto, giving off an odd feel as it was molded into the technique.

The smoke cleared, revealing two identical Narutos.

"All that chakra for one modified shadow clone?" asked Tsunade, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Seems kind of...wasteful, doesn't it?" Kakashi could only shrug, he'd seen enough from Naruto over the years to know that he shouldn't underestimate him...no matter how much it seemed like he should.

"Ready to get serious old man?" the Narutos asked in unison.

"Whenever you are," Jiraiya returned.

Both Narutos blurred out of existence, the first reappeared in front of Jiraiya, throwing a quick jab to his face. Moments later, the other appeared, crouched beneath his counterpart, and threw a sweeping kick. Jiraiya deftly shoved the punch aside and countered the sweep with a sharp kick the ankle.

'_Hmm...the one I kicked didn't disperse, not the clone then,' _he thought to himself, his limbs blocking several more punches and kicks on autopilot.

Bringing his attention back to the fight, he began to study both Narutos' moves.

They were fighting in different, yet complimentary taijutsu styles; one seemed to rely heavily on smooth, purposeful, and powerful kicks while the other relied on precise, lightning quick punches. The punches were all straight forward jabs that he would normally just dodge, but all of the kicks were long, horizontal, and sweeping, keeping him from escaping.

'_All right, your offense is pretty impressive...how's your defense?'_ Jiraiya mused. He dodged a punch from one, lifted his leg over a sweep from the other, chambered a kick, and loosed it at the puncher's face.

The kicker, his hands free anyways, continued his crouched spin and stood between the over-extended Naruto and Jiraiya, blocking the kick with a forearm and opened hand.

"Protecting your clone?" asked Jiraiya, sure that he'd figured them out. Both Narutos only grinned in reply.

The puncher launched a quick jab under his teammate's block, aimed at disabling Jiraiya's knee. The Sannin twisted in midair into a handstand and flipped away before he launched back into the fray, this time going for pure offense.

At least, he'd planned on going for pure offense. He had to dodge and block quick jabs from one of his oppenents every time he threw his own punch or kick, all of which were blocked by the other.

Eventually, when it became clear that neither was going to win the taijutsu battle, Jiraiya leapt back, threw a few kunai to keep the Narutos from following, bit his thumb as he landed on the opposite end of the clearing, and went into a familiar series of hand signs.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu! **(Summoning Technique)."

A loud bang and a puff of smoke later, Jiraiya was crouched on the shoulders of a horse-sized purple toad with red spots on its cheeks and nose.

**"Long time no see, Jiraiya-kun,"** said the toad.

"Ohayo, Gamabuki-chan," replied the Sannin happily.

**"So, who're we fighting?"** asked Gamabuki.

"The blonde haired brat over there," Jiraiya pointed towards Naruto and his clone.

**"Neh? Naruto-san? What did he do?"** asked the confused toad. Naruto and Naruto both gave him a friendly wave.

"Oh nothing, nothing, we're just sparring," Jiraiya assured him.

**"Oh, okay then,"** replied Gamabuki, apparently satisfied, **"Ready, Naruto-san?"** he called. The blondes grinned and nodded.

"Are you sure about that kid? Gamabuki-chan here is a ninjutsu master!" Jiraiya taunted, patting the toad's head fondly.

**"Neh, I wouldn't taunt him Jiraiya-kun,"** Gamabuki whispered urgently, **"If half the things Gamakichi-sama said about him are true, he'll be a tough one to beat."**

"Meh, we can take him," Jiraiya retorted, waving aside his companion's concern. "Go for the left one first; I'm pretty sure that's the real one."

**"Hai!"**

The toad's gullet billowed out, **"Suisenbon no Jutsu! **(Water Senbon Technique).**"**

Gamabuki expelled a breath, along with a giant, needle shaped blast of water aimed at the Naruto on the left.

Instead of dodging, both of them began sealing, simultaneously, with one ending on tiger, and the other on dragon. **"Namikaze Naruto Ketsugou no Jutsu: Hiboufuuu! **(Namikaze Naruto Combined Technique: Firestorm).**"**

One Naruto stepped forward and belched out a large fireball at the water needle. Less than a second later, the other let loose a gale force gust of wind. The flames fanned out into a giant searing cloud, moving across the field, incinerating everything in its path.

The water needle evaporated and Gamabuki and Jiraiya leapt to safety.

"Holy..." Kakashi murmured; his eye was widened almost comically.

"Great Kami," Tsunade gasped at the same time. "Have you ever seen a clone capable of doing that?"

Kakashi slowly shook his head. "It would use up all of its chakra, dispelling the clone before the technique was complete," he explained automatically.

Tsunade nodded in reply, a small smile spreading across her face. "Well, he's definitely gotten better then."

Kakashi's only response was to pull his hitai-ate up and activate his Sharingan.

Back on the field, Gamabuki launched a counter attack with Jiraiya--whose casual air had been replaced by a grim focus--shouting instructions from his shoulders.

"Trap them!" Jiraiya yelled. "Force them together!"

**"Suiton: Teppodama! **(Water Element: Water Bullet),**" **shouted Gamabuki, aiming to the left of the two Narutos.

Jiraiya hurled several shuriken to the right, **"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! **(Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique).**"**

**"Suiton: Teppodama!****" **Gamabuki followed up, aiming directly between the two Narutos.

That left them with only a few choices: Don't move it get hit by a dense, fast moving ball of water that would really hurt; move to the right, into a steel curtain of sharp pointy things; move to the left, into a dense, fast moving ball of water that would really, _really_ hurt; be driven together, as Gamabuki and Jiraiya were obviously hoping; or move upward, the only safe option they could find.

They chose upward; Jiraiya smirked.

"Do it," he said.

Gamabuki's tongue lashed out, lightning fast, and wrapped around the nearest one and hurled it across the clearing. The toad and the Sannin turned to their remaining opponent, intent on finishing him off.

The remaining Naruto landed in a crouch. He quickly formed two successive seals and shouted: **"Mizugakure no Jutsu! **(Hidden Mist Technique)."

The entire clearing was immediately shrouded in mist, hiding Naruto from view.

"Hmm, looks like he might be done, Gamabuki," Jiraiya muttered, "he's resorted to hiding. That's not like him at all."

Before the giant toad could respond, Naruto's voice echoed through the mist. **"Fuuton: Kanpuu no Jutsu!** (Wind Element: Cold Wind Technique).**"**

A blast of frigid wind swept across the field, herding the mist before it, revealing both Narutos. Jiraiya's eyebrows shot up in surprise. '_Damn, hoped we'd gotten rid of one.' _

Neither Gamabuki nor Jiraiya were paying too much attention to what happened to mist when it's cooled extremely quickly. All the moisture in the air hardened into small ice pellets...sharp ice pellets, carried on a very fast wind.

Jiraiya's instincts, well honed after decades of combat, screamed at him to move. In a split second, he'd leapt from Gamabuki's shoulders and into the trees above.

Gamabuki, unfortunately, wasn't nearly as fast. The frozen mist ripped through the toad, dispelling it in a small explosion of smoke.

Several seconds of shocked silence passed.

Finally, Jiraiya's face split into a wide smile and he turned back to the pair of blondes. "All right kid, you've passed the preliminary round, and now, it's time to end it."

He bit his thumb and flashed through the summon seals again, "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"**

When the smoke cleared, Jiraiya sat on the head of Gamabunta himself.

**"What?" **The Toad Boss's eyes rotated back and forth before catching sight of Jiraiya. "**DAMMIT JIRAIYA, MY WIFE HAD JUST BROUGHT ME MY LUNCH!"**

"Ah...Gomen, gomen," Jiraiya said, smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of his head, "This won't take long! We're just about finished with Naruto's skill assessment."

**"A test...you interrupted my lunch...for a test?"**

"Um...yes?"

The great toad sighed. **"All right, all right, just don't bother calling me for a few months after this, I won't answer! Now, let's get this over with, what do you want me to do?"**

"Just help me finish up this spar, that's all," Jiraiya replied in a placating tone.

"OI!" Naruto Number One and Two called in unison from across the field, "old man! You gonna talk all day? I thought you said you were gonna end it?"

"Shut it, gaki!" Jiraiya yelled back. He turned back to his new mount, "Ready, Gamabunta?"

**"Hai." **

The Toad clapped his hands together, his great gullet expanded, and then spewed a fountain of oil.

**"Katon: Gamayu Endan!** (Fire Element: Toad Oil Flame Bullet).**" **

Jiraiya let out a deep breath of fire, igniting the oil.

The resulting molten stream rushed through heat distorted air, straight at the pair of Narutos. Both sprinted to the left, barely avoiding a painfully hot death.

Before either the Sannin or his amphibious mount could rally themselves and strike again, one of the Narutos leapt towards the other, transforming in mid-air into another giant shuriken. The remaining Naruto spun, deftly catching it in mid-air, and came around to face his opponents, ready to throw.

"This again?" muttered Jiraiya.

Naruto hurled the giant shuriken at Jiraiya, who calmly took one step to the left and yawned theatrically. If he hadn't been so busy showing off, he might've noticed the triumphant smirk on Naruto's face.

Instead of passing him by, the shuriken changed back into Naruto Number Two directly in front of Jiraiya, a smirk much like his counterpart's on his face. Both blondes shouted: **"Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu! **(Exploding Clone Technique).**" **

Jiraiya's eyes widened. Half a second later, his world exploded.

The ground rocked, the sky was covered in black smoke, and Gamabunta was dispersed back to his home, wherever that may be, back to his patiently waiting lunch.

The only Naruto left cast a glance to the trees to his left and grinned.

"That was a damn quick **Kawarimi** (Replacement), but you're still too slow, Ero-sennin," he shouted, echoing the perverted hermit's earlier taunts...and then he was gone. A brief flash of light, and he was just _gone_.

Before the displaced air could rush back in to the spot the boy had just vacated, before the flash of light could even register on any of the spectators' retinas, Jiraiya fell from his tree perch.

Well...maybe "fell" is too light a word.

He was _launched_ from his tree perch by Naruto's fist.

A small cracking sound came from a spot to the right; the spot Naruto had only just disappeared from. Sound apparently, had needed a second to catch up to him.

The great Toad Hermit had barely landed before Naruto appeared by his head, a kunai pricking him just under his chin.

"Well, you were right about one thing Ero-sennin, it was time to end it," Naruto said with a cheeky grin.

"That was **Hiraishin no Jutsu** (Flying Thunder God Technique) wasn't it?" Jiraiya asked, acting for all the world like he and Naruto were sitting down for tea.

"Yep."

"When did you tag me?"

"During our little taijutsu match, my genson bunshin slipped the **shiki** (seal or formula) into your sandal when he blocked a kick."

"Sneaky bastard," Jiraiya grumbled.

"Shinobi," Naruto corrected, his grin never faltering.

"What about the clone...I could've sworn I hit it a few times, but it never dispelled...and how could it do so many jutsu without running out of chakra?" asked the older man.

"That's a little complicated. Like Obaa-chan said, it's a modified version of kage bunshin," explained Naruto, sounding far more...intelligent than usual. "I've been told by the few people who've seen it that the chakra feels funny when I mold it?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"That's because it's building fake muscles and organs. It isn't just a solid chakra construct, but a real, living, breathing being. It's life span still relies on it's chakra, but it is much more resilient than a shadow clone.

"It can mold chakra, it has it's own chakra source, and it has it's own chakra control. It's truly a living clone."

"So, you've basically got a teammate on call, whenever you want it?" asked Jiraiya

"Yep," Naruto said proudly.

"Nice technique," Jiraiya complimented him. "Does it still flood you with what it learned after it disperses?"

"Nah, we share a mind-link instead. We talk to each other in our heads. If I really wanted to, I could see through his eyes and hear through his ears, and he can do the same."

The sound of two hands clapping together drew their attention.

Naruto stowed his kunai and they both made their way to their feet to face the applauding Tsunade. "Well done, Naruto. I see you put your time to good use while you were gone. Wouldn't you agree, Kakashi?"

The Copy-nin hadn't moved; he was still leaning against his tree, staring unabashedly at Naruto.

"Kakashi?" Tsunade said again.

The silver haired jounin shook his head and blinked. "Umm...yes, yes indeed." He cast a suspicious glare at Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Tsunade apparently missed the look, she turned back to the panting master and apprentice as though nothing were wrong. "Well, I'd say the first part of your skills assessment was a rousing success, neh?"

"Yeah, you bet!" Naruto said still grinning. "Wait..." he continued, his grin slowly fading into a confused frown. "Did you say 'the first part?' As in there is more than one?"

The evil smile on Tsunade's face did not bode well...it didn't bode well at all.

Naruto sighed and went to retrieve his scroll.

* * *

A red haired young man stared out across the desert, ignoring the wind born sand blown into his face.

Behind him a group of Suna shinobi were busy readying supplies. As soon as the sun started to dip below the horizon, he, along with his advisors, body guards, and siblings, would set out on their journey.

October tenth was five days away. Traveling at a lazy pace, he and his entourage would reach Konoha in three-and-a-half.

"**They had better make sure you do, because if they fail, we'll crush them!"** shouted a high pitched voice in the man's head. His calm face never twitched; he just simply ignored the voice. He had learned long ago that he had more than enough will power to keep it in check. It irritated him, somewhat, that long after the source of the voice had been extracted, echoes of the voice itself still plagued him.

"In five days, Namikaze Naruto, you will have a _real_ birthday, and if those fools in your village don't agree...maybe I really _will_ crush them," the man muttered to himself.

* * *

In a small wooded clearing outside of Konoha, next to an empty shed, a masked shinobi knelt before a dark figure.

"The Jinchuuriki has grown strong, and he'll definitely be in the village for the festival," the masked man informed the other.

"Perhaps," the shadowy figure's voice grated oddly. "We shall arrange a little test. If he's strong enough, maybe he will be sufficient."

"Hai," the masked man agreed and disappeared.

A few seconds later, the shadowy figure did the same.

* * *

A/N: Well, there we go! My first action scene, which I think turned out okay.

I gave you a few hints of the beginning of the plot, and Naruto is starting to settle back in well enough. So next chapter we should see some of the Rookie 9, Gaara, Temari, and Kankouro, and Naruto's first meeting with Sakura since his return...maybe.

If I have enough time, I may fill you in on some more of his training, or possibly go over the rest of his skill assessment (traps and stealth is all there really is to that).

As far as the fight goes, you may have noticed that Jiraiya never even came close to Hermit Mode, or any of his hair techniques. They wanted to test Naruto relatively well, not kill him.

Likewise, Naruto was holding out plenty. He didn't use any of the techniques from his family scroll (sans rasengan and Hiraishin). I think I've got some neat stuff for you when he starts busting those out, or at least, I hope.

Well, review if you don't mind. Tell me what I did wrong, what I did right, or if I just plain suck and should never write again.

* * *

**Original Techniques: **

Please keep in mind that I suck at Japanese. I've done my best to translate things using online translators. If I've messed up, don't hesitate to correct me.

Ninpou: Junbuu no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Favorable Wind Technique) - An E-ranked genjutsu that Naruto picked up off a rookie gennin while he was visiting Grass country. Its practical purpose was to cool off it's user on a warm day by making him believe a cool breeze was blowing around him. Naruto just uses it because he thinks it makes him look cool. (Genjutsu is Naruto's main weakness, he only knows a few, and they are all C-rank and below)

Namikaze Naruto Hijutsu: Genson Bunshin (Namikaze Naruto Secret Technique: Living Clone) - An S-ranked original of Naruto's. Basically, it's a bastardized version of a shadow clone, but instead of just making a solid construct, his chakra actually crafts a faux living being; one capable of sustaining damage, using techniques, and thinking freely.

Suisenbon no Jutsu (Water Senbon Technique): Gamabuki's original technique. His chakra molds and condenses a blast of water into a large, four foot long needle.

Namikaze Naruto Ketsugou no Jutsu: Hiboufuuu (Namikaze Naruto Combination Technique: Fire Storm) - Naruto and his living clone do this jutsu in tandem (hence the name "combination technique"). One of them expels a large fireball (bigger than Sasuke's Goukakyuu, but smaller than Itachi's) and the other fans it into a raging storm with a blast of wind. A-ranked.

Bakuhatsu Bunshin no Jutsu (Exploding Clone Technique) - Naruto molds lightning chakra into his living clone, breaking a chakra specific seal (as in it only responds to Naruto's chakra) and activating a chemical reaction within the clones body; basically it makes a big boom, and that makes Naruto happy.

**A Special Note On Naruto's Taijutsu:** You will see an in depth explanation later, but, for now, suffice to say that he was using a bastardized version of his mother's and father's different styles. When he really gets serious, he only uses one, and he does it very well.

That's it for now. See you next chapter!

* * *

4/11/2008: Eheh...I kind of realized today that Shukaku had been extracted from Gaara a long time ago. I've gone back and added a slight addendum to that scene, hopefully it makes it a little more palatable :blushes sheepishly:


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Sigh...as irritating as it is, I guess I better start doing these. I don't own Naruto, I don't make money off this story, plain and simple.

A/N: Welcome to Chapter 2! Once again, I appreciate the reviews for the previous chapter :D Several of you seemed to like Naruto's fighting style. I assure you you'll get to see plenty before the story is done, and he hasn't even busted out some of his best techniques yet (well, except for Hiraishin).

This chapter is more of a set-up chapter, though I feel it still turned out interesting enough. I threw in a little filler action to keep you entertained, but it's purpose was to move the plot into a spot where I can hopefully bring this little mini-arc (the return home) to a close either next chapter or the chapter after that.

That's all I have to say for now, enjoy the chapter!

P.S. - For those of you who noticed, I made a minor continuity boo-boo with Gaara last chapter. If you just can't go on without seeing that small bit fixed, then go back and reread (or if you're just curious as to how I messed up, I mention the fix in my updated author's notes for last chapter).

* * *

**Ascension**

**By TgCid24**

**Chapter 2: Frogs and Monkeys?**

* * *

Tsunade strolled into her office, followed closely by her two fellow 'proctors.' Casually, she waved them to the empty seats in front of her desk and relaxed into her own comfy chair.

"Well, I'd say this has been an interesting day," she commented.

"Interesting," began Jiraiya sardonically, "doesn't even begin to cover it."

Kakashi favored them both with a one-eyed glare and remained silent.

"The boy's chakra capacity was already well above the average jounin level during our training trip years ago, but now...I'm not sure if he could run out of chakra if he tried," continued Jiraiya, unable to contain the healthy dose of respect in his voice.

"True, but we always knew that was likely. You told me yourself how the seal was designed to work, and it's not really how much chakra he has that matters, it's how capable he is of using it," she said. "He showed definite skill. His innovation with standard techniques is impressive, and his original techniques are amazing. His chakra control still seems a little off, but that's to be expected with such a large pool to draw from."

"His chakra control wasn't off!" Jiraiya argued, "Need I remind you, Tsunade-hime, that he hid, not ten feet away from you, using a simple henge, and you never noticed him?" She felt her eyebrow twitch involuntarily. She hated that nickname. She hated having her mistakes pointed out to her even more. "Just because he doesn't have _your_ chakra control doesn't mean his is flawed!"

"Whatever," she countered rather huffily. After forty plus years of working together, the pervert still talked circles around her sometimes. "His trapping was chuunin level, which is barely adequate if we want to promote him to the level we had discussed, but the odd clone thrown in here and there made it effective enough."

"True, and with a little training, I think he could bring that particular skill well up above par. He's already working on an average level with seals, which is more than most shinobi can claim. If I can get him trained up, fuuinjutsu will really augment his trapping well; not to mention..."

Tsunade sighed and made for her liquor cabinet, ignoring Jiraiya's lengthy diatribe, extolling the many virtues of seals. She definitely needed some sake if he was going to keep talking; damn authors, their large lexicons, and their love of their own voices!

While she poured, she felt the heavy pressure of Hatake's gaze on the back of her head and groaned inwardly. She had hoped the man would have figured things out long before now, on his own; he was supposed to be a genius after all, but apparently his incredible intellect had failed to take in and properly recognize several rather large clues.

"...and with the kid's ability to innovate and be creative, he could do so many other things with it..." Jiraiya continued obliviously.

Once she had filled her saucer and re-stowed her sake in a place she hoped would be safe from Shizune, she slid back into her chair and smoothly cut across Jiraiya's speech, "Kakashi, if you don't stop glaring at me, I'm going hurt you," she said sternly.

"Why didn't anyone ever tell me?" he blurted out. "Why wasn't I told that my sensei had a son? I could have looked out for him; I could have helped him..."

"You mean you never figured it out?" asked Jiraiya incredulously. He paused for a second, and then burst into laughter. He tried to speak several times, but was unable to find the breath for it. Instead, the old hermit roared hysterically, slapping his knee and pointing at Kakashi.

Kakashi tilted his head down bashfully, and Tsunade was sure she could see a hint of a blush just above his mask. "Well, I had suspected a few times," the Copy-nin began to explain, "but he acts nothing like Minato-sensei! I mean yeah, he learned the Rasengan and Toad Summoning, but you could have taught anyone that! And sure, he looks like him, except--"

"Except for the nose and mouth," Tsunade cut in wistfully, "those are all Kushina. Naruto acts just like her."

"And that's another thing! I never even knew Minato-sensei had a girlfriend, much less a child! So tell me, why all the secrecy?"

Jiraiya's laughter died down, replaced by a sad smile. Silence reigned for a few moments and Tsunade had to clear her throat loudly before the old man finally spoke.

"Twenty one years ago," he began in what she recognized as his 'story-teller' voice, "Kumo was looking for safe avenues into Fire Country, attempting to set up reliable supply lines, setting the stage for war. In that vein, they began seeking possible alliances with countries that shared a border with us. Whirlpool country was one of them."

Kakashi raised a hand to cut him off, "I've never heard of a Whirlpool Country."

Jiraiya shot him an irritated glare, "Don't interrupt me. This came on the heels of our war with Iwa. I'd imagine you had never even seen the eastern borders of our country yet, much less heard of every tiny country on the other side of them. Every capable shinobi we had was focused on the west, and had been for years; we needed them all if we were going to successfully deal with Iwa's superior numbers.

"Anyways, back to what I was saying. Kumo approached the Daimyo of Whirlpool with a treaty that amounted to little more than a notice of annexation. The Daimyo knew his fledgling ninja village couldn't stand up to Kumo's military might, but he was rather savvy, politically speaking, and managed to stall the Raikage, drawing the 'peace' talks out for several months, allowing him time to set things in motion. The majority of his civilian population was already safe in Fire Country by the time Kumo attacked. Unfortunately, the Daimyo himself, and the majority of his military were killed, and Whirlpool Country ceased to exist, becoming the southwestern most tip of Lightning Country instead.

"Uzumaki Kushina was a refugee from Whirlpool Country. She was one of the most talented ninja in her village, heiress of one of their few established clans, one of the few ninja to make it out alive, and a prime target for Kumo. By the time we had Iwa under control, and could turn our attention to Kumo she was safely hidden in Konoha, and she and Minato had already fallen for each other." Jiraiya paused and smiled wistfully.

Seconds later a dark look crossed over his face, "but Minato had accumulated many enemies, and Kushina had already experienced more than enough pain. So, in order to spare Kushina from conflict as much as possible, they kept their relationship a secret. She had settled down into a civilian life, where she hoped she would be safe, and Minato became the Yondaime Hokage.

"A year before the Kyuubi attacked, Sarutobi-sensei wed them to one another in secret. Three months later, Naruto had been conceived, and nine months after that, his mother died in child birth just hours before his father sacrificed himself to seal the Kyuubi within his newborn son. I had never seen my old pupil more happy than the day he asked me to be Naruto's godfather, and it's a damn shame that such a happy little family was shattered before it ever really got going."

The end of the tale left them in a heavy silence. Jiraiya was casually flicking his geta while he stared off into space; Kakashi's gaze was riveted to the portrait of his old sensei, his eyes glazed over as though he were lost in thought. Tsunade studied the ripples in her sake, her own mind wandering over the past.

"I-I don't understand," Kakashi spoke up, "how could he do that to his own child? There were plenty of children young enough to accept the influx of chakra, why did he choose his son?"

Jiraiya looked at him like he had grown a second head. "You trained under the man for years and you have to ask that question? A leader cannot ask those he leads to do something that he himself will not! Minato knew this, understood it, lived it and breathed it! He wouldn't send his shinobi to the front lines unless he was there himself. He could _not_ ask his villagers to sacrifice one of their children if wasn't willing to sacrifice his own."

The jounin, cowed by the vehement response, nodded and stared dolefully at the hands folded in his lap. Silence, once again, reigned over the three.

When the silence became too oppressive for her, Tsunade cleared her throat and attempted to bring everyone back on task. "So, back to our reason for being here: Naruto. Jiraiya...your opinions?"

"Jounin, easily, if Sannin were actually a rank, I'd say he definitely qualifies." He paused to let the weight of his statement sink in. "Yesterday was just a game for him, he never really got all that serious, if that grin of his was anything to go by, and neither did I, to be honest. I pushed him the best I could, but there's only so much pushing that can be done before 'test' becomes 'kill.' He's well above where we expected him to be. I'm sure he can handle any mission you throw at him."

She nodded and turned to Kakashi, "And your assessment, Kakashi?"

"I agree with Jiraiya-sama. He passed me four years ago, and he's stayed well ahead of me; Jounin."

She nodded again, "I concur, though with the addendum that he needs to improve his trapping and his ability to deal with genjutsu. I'll send a messenger to Naruto and we'll all meet here at eight o'clock tomorrow evening, agreed?" she asked, slipping into her commanding 'Hokage voice.' Both men nodded. "That's settled then, dismissed."

Kakashi politely excused himself out the window, leaving the two remaining Sannin alone, staring out the window at the village, bathed in moonlight.

"So, do you think he's all right?" she asked, once she was sure Kakashi was out of earshot.

"Yeah, he'll go home, sit down with one of my incredibly well crafted novels, and he'll be over it by tomorrow," Jiraiya responded off-handedly.

"I wasn't talking about Kakashi and you know it!" Tsunade replied with a scowl. Her old teammate nodded and sighed.

"Hard to say really; he still acts relatively normal, or at least as normal as Naruto ever was, but he seems a bit more...somber, from time to time." She nodded her agreement.

"So, are you going to tell him about Danzo?"

Tsunade shifted uncomfortably. "I...I might tell him tomorrow, but it would be horrible of me to put a damper on things like that immediately after telling him he's been promoted."

Jiraiya laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, "He'll be all right, Tsunade. You and I both know that Naruto never let's anything keep him down." She nodded. "Besides, he deserves to know, and it might help him deal with things."

With an affectionate squeeze, Jiraiya released her shoulder and silently followed Kakashi through the window.

Tsunade was left by herself, lost in an inner conflict.

* * *

Naruto whistled to himself, casually strolling down the sidewalk. It was a new and somewhat buoying feeling to be able to walk through the village, in broad daylight, without being glared at. It seemed that spending seven of the last eight years away from Konoha had managed to dull, or in some cases outright kill, the hatred of the villagers.

It was an odd sort of paradox to him, that the time spent away from them would make them hate him less, instead of the time spent with them, trying to get them to like him. He wasn't sure if he appreciated the implications.

His stomach growled loudly and he shook his head, a chagrined look on his face. Waxing philosophical was not a wise thing to do on an empty stomach, and anything that interrupted his trek to Ichiraku's was to be eliminated with extreme prejudice.

_In other words, eat now; think later,_ he thought with a smirk.

When he caught sight of the ramen stand, incredible, long forgotten feelings welled up from deep within. Four years of Ichiraku celibacy was about to end! He almost felt like dancing, but dancing would slow him down, and that was not to be allowed right now.

Just as Naruto began to close in on his own personal Mecca, a flash of pink to his left yanked his attention, kicking and screaming, away from the wonderful smell of ramen.

What he saw suddenly drove all thoughts of his favorite food from his mind.

_Sakura!_ His eyes widened in panic, all the happy feelings that had bubbled up inside him died a violent death, and he fled down a side street; away from Sakura; away from what promised to be a painful reunion, in more ways than one.

_"Bu-but Naruto promised to bring you back; you have to come back with us..."_

Naruto shook his head like a wet dog, clearing out the unpleasant thoughts.

Feeling a bit safer in the alley, he crouched down behind the nearest thing he could find, hoping that it would keep him hidden. Breathing deeply, he rested the back of his head against it and found that whatever it was was nice and soft, with an underlying firmness that was rather nice...

_Wait...what?_

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata was having a wonderful day. It wasn't often that jounin had the chance to take time for themselves. It was even less often that she, personally, had that time, and it was downright rare that she used it to go out on a date. As a matter of fact, up until a year ago, she had never been on a date at all. She had continued to save herself for Naruto-kun, praying that he would return, but as time dragged on, she had finally given up on that happening and opened herself up to the dating scene. She had even cut her hair to commemorate it, all the way up above her shoulders.

And here she was, about to spend her second evening in a row out on a date.

It was...nice, dating. Not great, she didn't really see what some of the other kunoichi saw in it that was so wonderful, but it _was_ a pleasant diversion. Her date last night had been handsome enough, though she had had to get very _firm_ with him when he seemed determined to follow her into the Hyuuga compound to 'continue their evening.'

He wouldn't be walking straight for a few days.

Before she could stop herself, she wondered what Naruto-kun would be like on a date, and if it had been him that wanted to 'continue their evening,' would she have been as firm in her dealings? A light blush graced her alabaster cheeks.

_No, no I don't think I would,_ she answered.

Hinata shook her head and bravely attempted to drag her thoughts away from the young man whom she had loved from a distance for years.

Her gaze drifted to the Hokage monument in the distance, not too far from the Hokage tower, her destination. For a brief second, an image of the Hokages' faces, covered in graffiti superimposed itself over the tableau and she smiled.

_No! Don't think about Naruto-kun!_ she chided herself.

She increased her pace, striding purposefully, almost stomping really.

_Oh look, if I turned here it would take me to Naruto-kun's favorite ramen stand..._

Without her permission, her feet turned down said street and froze...

Something blurred by and stooped behind her; something that was currently nestled gently between her buttocks.

She turned her head, the only part of her body that wasn't numbed with shock, to find out what, exactly, was touching her in such a...familiar manner. The back of a head of spiky yellow locks was resting easily against her tailbone, a be-whiskered face turned up to watch her curiously.

"Oh, hi, Hinata-chan!" the face said warmly, though a part of her noted that the shoulders and chest that accompanied said face were heaving up down, taking heavy breaths. He peered around her legs like a timid three year-old, "Sakura-chan isn't coming down this way, is she?" he asked nervously.

Her head turned back up the street automatically. "Ano...no..."

"Oh, good! See you around then!" he said cheerily.

In a blur that she could barely follow, he was gone.

"Na-Naruto-ku-kun?"

She winced. That was the first time she had stuttered in over a year.

All of the blood in her body rushed to her face, and for a brief second her head resembled a black-blue haired tomato. Then she fainted, and all thoughts of her upcoming date fled.

* * *

The Suna entourage was making its slow, shuffling way northeast.

The trees that had been on the horizon hours ago were now only a few hundred yards away, and the unbearable heat that had been plaguing them was beginning to taper off into a more moderate, and tolerable, temperature.

Most of the group had expressed some form of vocal appreciation for that fact, but not Gaara. No, he was as terse and stoic as he had ever been. It was not uncommon nowadays to see the young Kazekage with a small smirk or a barely-there frown; that, however, was as far as he had come with his outward displays of emotion.

They were traveling in a standard VIP formation, which meant that Gaara was in the center of a slow moving diamond shaped mass of shinobi with his two siblings acting as a personal guard. Gaara felt severely chafed, he didn't like the thought of those who had become precious to him putting themselves between him and possible danger. Of course, no one would ever know this, because the only outward sign of his irritation was a slight twitch of his fingers, and he'd never say a word about it.

Beside him, his sister heaved a weary sigh. "This is taking too long...I'm getting sand in places that sand shouldn't be...when the hell are we gonna get there?"

"You just miss your precious Naruto-kun," teased Kankuro from his other side.

"Yes, I do miss the only sparring partner I've been able to find who uses wind jutsu as well as me, thank you," she responded coolly, fingering the large war fan that was secured to her back by an ornate red belt.

"Sparring partner," Kankuro began dubiously, "right. I'm sure that's exactly what you want to do with him...spar."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Temari shouted. Gaara slowed his step minutely, allowing his siblings to get ahead of him. Temari was going to start swinging her fan soon, and he didn't want to be in the way.

"Don't think I missed the way you looked at him when he left, you were all googly-eyed!" Kankuro accused, smiling viciously. Gaara smiled as well, though in a much more understated, and less vicious way. She _had_ been very happy that Naruto had like the cloak she had picked out, even if she wouldn't let Gaara tell anyone that it was her idea. "I'm surprised I don't hear you moaning his name in your dreams at night," finished Kankuro disgustedly.

Gaara's eyes widened almost imperceptibly when he saw a faint blush coloring Temari's cheeks. "I was _not_ googly-eyed!" she retorted. It did not escape his notice that she didn't deny the jibe about her dreams.

"Everybody, get your cameras ready when we get to Konoha!" shouted Kankuro to their entire group. _Ooo, that's going to be the last straw,_ thought Gaara with a small wince. "When Temari sees her one true love, _Naruto_, you won't want to miss the photo opportunity!" Kankuro laughed boisterously, a few nervous chuckles joined him, but most of Sunagakure no Sato had learned long ago that teasing the daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage was a bad idea..

As Gaara had predicted, Temari's arms moved in a blur, smacking Kankuro upside the head with her fan.

Kankuro landed face first in the sand. "Urk," he said, eloquently.

Temari continued on with a huff, and Gaara chuckled once before tugging at the sand around his brother with his chakra, gently shoving him to his feet.

_You have certainly made my life more...entertaining, Naruto. It will be nice to see you again,_ he mused as he continued to trudge towards Konoha.

* * *

Naruto paused outside of the barbeque restaurant and burped loudly. Barbeque didn't have anything on ramen, but it was filling enough, he decided.

Resolved to enjoy a nice afternoon in his new home before meeting the Hokage that evening, Naruto turned towards the edge of town.

He had only taken a few steps when a kunai embedded itself in the road directly in his path.

"So, Kurenai-obasan was right, my rival has returned," said a voice. A teenage boy stepped up beside the kunai. His tall, spiky brown hair was held up by a Konoha hitai-ate, and he wore a black shinobi suit that reminded Naruto almost painfully of the gear the Old Man Hokage had been wearing the night he died.

"You've grown, Konohamaru," he said. Konohamaru grinned. He had begun to resemble his grandfather with his lanky limbs and simian-esque face, though his grin was almost a picture perfect match for Naruto's.

"So have you, Naruto-onii-san. Did you learn a lot of cool jutsu on your trip?" Konohamaru asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Naruto grinned, "You won't believe some of the incredibly cool things I can do now!"

Konohamaru eyed Naruto's new outfit critically. "That cloak is so cool, Onii-san! Where can I get one?" bubbled the boy.

"Thanks, I picked it up in Sunagakure," Naruto explained, straightening the silky black cloak proudly. "The Kazekage himself gave it to me. It's because I'm such a great ninja!"

Konohamaru's face suddenly grew stern, though Naruto could still see the corner's of his mouth twitching. "Good," he declared, hands on his hips, "I challenge you for the right to be the next Hokage!"

Naruto chuckled. "All right then, meet me at training ground seven."

"Sweet!" Konohamaru cheered, "I'm gonna go grab Udon and Moegi, they'll want to see this!" The boy took off like a shot, his signature scarf, the only thing about his appearance that Naruto was really familiar with anymore, streamed along behind him.

Naruto followed at a much more sedate pace, hands in his pockets and a content smile on his face. It was nice to see Konohamaru all grown up, and it would be great to see how he's grown as a ninja.

Slowly but surely, Naruto found himself on the path that led directly to the gennin training grounds. His eyes wandered through the trees beside him, lost in memories of his own gennin days. He wasn't quite sure how it would feel to see the old training ground again.

No sooner had he thought it than he cleared the trees and was faced with three wooden posts. The very same posts that Kakashi-sensei had tied him to for cheating on their bell test. Thankfully, all he felt was the slight warmth of pleasant nostalgia.

He casually sat down and leaned up against the middle post to wait, enjoying the way the sun slanted through the sparse cloud cover.

The minutes ticked by lazily and nearly half an hour passed before he felt the approach of three shinobi. He stood just as they landed across the clearing from him.

Moegi had grown into a cute, if tomboyish, young woman. She still wore her red hair in pigtails, but they no longer stood straight up, instead they trailed down her back, rather like Tsunade's. Her kunoichi attire was composed of a pink shirt, topped by a chuunin vest, and camouflage pants.

Udon still seemed to have a perpetual allergy problem and his eyes looked dim and unfocused behind his glasses, but if Naruto remembered correctly, he was pretty intelligent. He didn't seem to care about personal flare, all he wore was a standard chuunin outfit.

"Welcome home, Naruto-kun!" greeted Moegi. Udon just nodded, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, we can make with the pleasantries later," said Konohamaru, eliciting a scowl from his female teammate. "Let's get it on, Naruto-oniisan!"

Naruto nodded and smiled, closing the gap between them until he stood only a few yards away. Moegi and Udon cleared out, coming to rest in the trees behind Konohamaru.

"Ready, Oniisan?" he asked.

"Yep, show me what you got, Konohamaru." Naruto shifted into a relaxed, yet combat ready posture; turning slightly to the side and raising his arms to waist height, fingers splayed out.

Konohamaru bit his thumb and began a familiar set of seals. _Summoning?_ thought Naruto, one eyebrow raised.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"** Konohamaru called. A cloud of smoke obscured his side of the field, and when it cleared a masked monkey, garbed in traditional black shinobi gear, stood beside him. The monkey was a good head shorter than Konohamaru, but the black bo-staff it wielded made up for any of its physical deficiencies.

"Ape summoning, eh? Your grandfather would be proud." Konohamaru grinned happily. "I'll tell you what," said Naruto thoughtfully, "how 'bout we make this a battle of the summons? The first one to dispel the other's summon wins."

"I like it," said Konohamaru without hesitation, "Sarubo-san and I can take anything you got!" The monkey nodded in silent agreement.

_Heh, I seriously doubt you could take my best, but how about my favorite?_ Naruto wondered. He bit his own thumb and flashed through the same seal set. **"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"**

When the smoke dispersed, Naruto was perched on top of an elephant sized orange toad with dark blue lines around his lips and eyes, the lines trailed down to trace his arms and legs, and make swirling patterns on his chest. He was clad in dark navy blue ninja pants and an open jacket of the same color, topped with a white fur-lined collar. Protruding from his mouth was an ornate golden pipe, puffing out lazy swirls of smoke, and clutched in one hand was a three foot long kunai.

**"Yo, Naruto-nii-san,"** said the toad, waving a gloved hand. **"It's been forever since the last time you summoned me! I was starting to get bored."**

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Eh heh, sorry about that, Gamakichi, but with the excitement of coming home and all that, I didn't really have time to sit around and hang out."

**"Whatever," **the toad waved off his excuse,** "just don't let it happen again!"** warned Gamakichi. **"Now, what're we doing? Training; hide-and-seek; King of the lily pad?" **asked the toad, hopping from one foot to the other excitedly.

"No, no, no," said Naruto, making shushing motions and doing his best to hide his embarrassment. "We're not playing! I'm too cool of a ninja to sit around a play!" he said unconvincingly. The blonde man shot a few glances at Konohamaru and his friends, but either they had not heard the exchange, or they didn't care. "We're sparring with Konohamaru and Sarubo-san over there."

**"Really?" **his summon asked excitedly,** "It's been ages since you and I have had the chance to fight together!" **the toad said, rubbing his hands together.

"Hai, hai," Naruto agreed casually, "Rules are: first to dispel the other's summon wins, got it?"

**"Sure thing, boss!"**

Naruto sighed deeply. "I thought I told you not to call me that?" Gamakichi handily ignored him, focusing instead on his opponent. "Anyways, you ready Gamakichi?" The toad nodded. "You ready, Sarubo-san?" Naruto shouted across the field. The monkey nodded. "We start on three then!"

He hopped down from Gamakichi's head and began to bellow out a count:

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

Just like that, both summons leapt into the air. They clashed at the apex, kunai to bo-staff. With a grunt, they pushed off of each other and landed back where they started.

**"Gamajutsu: Abou no Mai! **(Toad Technique: Dance of the Tree frogs)**" **Gamakichi declared, forming a one handed seal.

Sarubo shook his head when one toad became two, then two toads become four. Soon, sixteen toads stood before him. They began hopping in a random pattern around him, lashing out unpredictably with their giant kunai.

The monkey did his best to defend, but the toads were moving too fast. Out of desperation, he started twirling his staff in the hopes of blocking at least most of the incoming strikes, but it did not save him from taking a few nicks and cuts on his arms and legs.

Finally, when a lull in the onslaught presented itself, he slammed his bo into the ground and quickly formed a string of seven seals. Feeling the chakra flowing properly, he molded it into his arms and legs, and mentally whispered the name of the technique, _**"Saruken no Jutsu: Kyabuchikamasu! **_(Monkey Fist Technique: One Hundred Palm Strikes)_**"**_

The monkey-nin launched himself towards the nearest toad, moving much faster than before, and struck a few vicious palm strikes to its gut, handily dispelling it. He continued around the circle in much the same manner, killing all but three of the toads with open handed jabs before the technique finished.

In a flash, the monkey was standing by his staff again, dislodging it and moving into a ready stance, his breathing noticeably more ragged.

Gamakichi, his jutsu rendered all but useless, dispelled the last of his clones and rushed through another set of seals. **"Kakushigama no Jutsu! **(Hidden Toad Technique)**"**

His orange gullet bulged and then he began puffing hard and fast on his pipe. The monkey-nin charged, hoping to catch him off guard before he could complete his technique, but it did no good; soon, the clearing was obscured by a foul smelling cloud of smoke.

Sarubo looked around nervously. There wasn't a sound; his enemy was completely invisible; a giant, elephantine toad had just made itself undetectable. It was almost too much for his brain to wrap itself around.

**"You fight pretty good, Sarubo-san,"** Gamakichi's voice echoed eerily through the clearing. **"Not many have survived my Abou no Mai!" **Second's ticked by and Sarubo's search went from nervous to frantic, his eyes wide and his shoulders heaving; he looked on the verge of hyperventilating.

The sound of steel tearing through cloth and rending flesh permeated the enshrouded clearing. **"But no one survives my Kakushigama no Jutsu,"** the toad mumbled into the ear of his enemy, who was staring numbly at the tip of the kunai protruding from his chest. **"You fought well,"** Gamakichi continued kindly. **"Do not be ashamed. Few can best the Prince of Toads."**

With a strained nod of respect, the monkey disappeared, the smoke from his dispelling mixing with Gamakichi's pipe smoke. The toad formed a hand seal and released the technique, the smoke dissipated quickly.

"Well done, Gamakichi!" cheered Naruto.

The toad turned and waved. **"That was fun, Nii-san. Call me again soon, ja ne!" **And with that, the giant toad disappeared.

The three young ninja sprinted across the clearing to Naruto. "That was so cool!" squealed Moegi. Udon nodded his agreement.

"I guess you still get to be the next Hokage, then," said Konohamaru, stuck between grumbling over his loss and being happy for his friend.

"You did really well, Konohamaru. Not many people as young as us can summon awesome stuff like that!" complimented Naruto. Konohamaru grinned cheekily and opened his mouth to respond.

"Picking on the new chuunin, Naruto?" cut in a familiar voice, "how troublesome." The owner of the voice stepped out from behind a tree at the edge of the clearing with a bored look on his face. One of his hands casually scratched the back of his head, just below his spiky ponytail.

"Eh? Shikamaru!" said Naruto enthusiastically. The lazy Nara favored him with an even lazier smile. "How've you been? Did you make jounin yet?"

"Tch, like I would go through the trouble of doing that?" Shikamaru answered. "I'm happy staying a chuunin, thanks."

"Oi, oi, oi!" shouted Konohamaru, "don't underestimate me because I only just got promoted or I'll kick your ass!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever kid," muttered Shikamaru, casually waving the young Sarutobi off. "When did you get back, Naruto?"

"The night before last. Obaa-chan, Ero-sennin, and Kakashi-sensei did my assessment tests yesterday. I'm supposed to be meeting them tonight for my results."

"Not even back a full day and tested already?" Shikamaru asked sympathetically, "What a pain."

"Nah, it was pretty fun, actually!" Naruto grinned happily, a manic gleam in his eye.

"If you say so," Shikamaru shook his head sadly. "You always were a weird one, Naruto."

"Oi, Oniisan, stop ignoring me!" whined Konohamaru.

"Shh, Konohamaru, I'm trying to catch up with Shikamaru!" Naruto scolded lightly. In response, the sixteen year-old grandson of the Sandaime Hokage pouted like a toddler who had had his favorite toy taken away.

Shikamaru glanced up at the sun and sighed. "I've got to get to the tower for mission assignments. See you around, Naruto." He tossed a lazy wave over his shoulder and strolled off towards the village.

"Later!" Naruto grinned and started off in the general direction of his house.

Konohamaru stared blankly for a moment, watching Naruto casually walk away.

"ONII-SAAAAN!"

* * *

The moon rode high in the sky, three quarter's full, the sounds of a busy, bustling village had all but died out, and Naruto stood in the Hokage's office once again.

The electric lights had been left off in favor of several lit candles. Tsunade stood in front of him, wearing her formal robes of office and traditional Kage hat. She was flanked on the right by Jiraiya, who looked the same as he always did, and on the left by Kakashi, who had chosen to wear the formal, all black shinobi uniform that Naruto hadn't seen anyone wear since the Sandaime's funeral.

"Umm...Obaa-chan, what's going on?" Naruto asked, glancing around at the formal setting nervously.

Tsunade, instead of her traditional reaction of a twitch every time he called her by his favored nickname, smiled.

"Namikaze Naruto."

"Eh...yes?" he responded.

"I, in my formal capacity as Godaime Hokage hereby appoint you as a special jounin of Konoha, pending a formal test for jounin rank."

Naruto gaped at them. Jiraiya covered a smirk and Kakashi's eye crinkled into a smile.

"Do you accept this position?" continued Tsunade.

It took several seconds and a cleared throat from Tsunade for Naruto's brain to grind back into action. He shook his head forcefully, "You're joking!" he shouted.

Tsunade stifled a giggle. "I assure you, Naruto, I'm not joking."

"I-I...I mean," Naruto's mouth worked silently for a few moments. He had expected to be promoted, yes, but not straight to a provisionary jounin; he had just assumed it would be chuunin, that was the way the ladder worked. "Yes," he finally managed to say, though his voice did squeak a little, "I accept!"

"Good," Tsunade said. She turned to Kakashi, who handed her a folded vest. Turning back to him, she held the vest out formally, and Naruto accepted it with a small, polite bow. "Continue to stoke the Will of Fire, Naruto. Protect the village, protect those who are precious to you, and serve your Hokage well."

"At least until I take the job from you," he mumbled, just loud enough for them to hear. Tsunade smiled warmly at him; Jiraiya and Kakashi chuckled.

"Indeed," she said.

Tsunade's formal posture suddenly dropped and she removed her pyramid-shaped hat. Recognizing that as the end of the formal ceremony, Naruto spoke, "Wow! I didn't expect this! Skipped straight to jounin!" he crowed happily, "this is AWESOME!"

"You deserve it...ototo," said Tsunade.

Suddenly, Naruto did something that no one in the room had ever seen him do before: he initiated a hug. Tsunade's eyes almost bugged out when he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Thanks, oneechan," he whispered back.

Tsunade had to sniffle back tears. He pulled back eventually, with a bright, beaming smile on his face, and thanked the others when they congratulated him.

Whilst he was busy shaking Kakashi's hand excitedly, ignoring the jounin's pained expression in the process, Jiraiya cleared his throat and shot Tsunade a significant look. She felt her stomach clench painfully.

Looking at Naruto's beaming face, looking for once like the old Naruto, she couldn't bring herself to do it; she couldn't ruin this night for him, it just wasn't right.

She turned back to her old teammate and shook her head almost imperceptibly; he frowned, but didn't seem interested in pushing the subject.

"Well," she began, smiling again at her surrogate little brother, "let's go celebrate! I happen to know that the liquor cabinet in your house is fully stocked with some excellent sake."

Naruto cheerfully agreed and led the way through her open window.

* * *

The midnight moonlight shined briefly through fast moving clouds.

Outside of the village, a man trudged up the road, cresting a hill that Naruto himself had topped only a few days ago.

"Lessee, good view of tha village. Should be able to pick up tha chakra signature just fine," he was muttering to himself. "Let's just find us a nice seat o'er there, yeah?"

The man, whose garish, red and gold demon mask shone brightly in the moon light, hopped off of the road. He skipped across several trees, red and gold robes billowing behind him, moving from limb to limb quietly, before coming to rest in a spot that overlooked the whole village that was laid out in the valley before him.

He made himself comfortable, assuming the standard lotus position, and began the process of locating a specific chakra signature.

Several dragged by, during which the man began muttering irritably to himself. Finally, he found it, in the last place he looked of course. In a house on the very edge of the village, four large chakra signatures were congregated. His target was among them.

Something felt a little odd about the signature though. Utilizing one of his unique (and if you asked him, superior) abilities, he formed his hand into an odd seal and the chakra signature resolved itself into an image in his mind.

"Spiky blond hair, whisker marks, definitely him," he mumbled.

Satisfied, he released the odd seal and then began a long seal set, ending on ram.

**"Kyuukyouku Genjutsu: Nigenteki Gekkai - Tsukitosuppon!** (Ultimate Illusionary Technique: Dual Worlds - The Difference Between Heaven and Hell)**"**

* * *

A/N: Ha! My first cliffie...don't hurt me! Like I said in my opening notes, this chapter was mainly just a bridge to the final stage of this arc. As you might have guessed, I've decided to play around a little with both NaruxHina and NaruxTemari before I decide (and even when I decide, you're going to have to wait to see it happen in the story...because it's fun to make you sweat :P)

Next chapter we get to see our mystery man's "Ultimate" technique. And sometime soon we'll see Naruto and Sakura meet again...eventually. So, basically, this chapter was lots of fluff and a little plot; the next chapter or two will be lots of plot and very little fluff...at least that's the play for now.

As always, read, review, tell me what I did right and wrong; help me become a better writer :)

**Original Techniques:**

As usual, keep in mind that I suck at Japanese, so if these are horrible translations...I blame Jeffrey...whoever he is.

Gamajutsu: Abou no Mai(Toad Technique: Dance of the Tree Frogs): A toad kenjutsu technique. The user creates multiple copies of himself, and then uses bursts of chakra to move them at incredible speeds, creating a fast moving storm of blades.

Saruken no Jutsu: Kyabuchikamasu (Monkey Fist Technique: One Hundred Palm Strikes): A basic ape taijutsu technique. The user utilizes a burst of chakra to move incredibly fast, delivering swift, powerful, open-handed strikes, complete with chakra blows (similar to jyuuken, only without being able to see or close the tenketsu).

Kakushigama no Jutsu (Hidden Toad Technique): A Gamakichi original assassination technique. Gamakichi gathers chakra in his gullet and then infuses it into rapid puffs of his pipe, covering the surrounding area with dense, chakra laced pipe-smoke. Then, he uses chakra to cushion his feet and contain the air distortions around him, giving his opponent no clue of where he is until he's already attacked. Requires excellent chakra control...and a cool looking pipe.

Kyuukyouku Genjutsu: Nigenteki Gekkai - Tsukitosuppon (Ultimate Illusionary Technique: Dual Worlds - The Difference Between Haven and Hell): You'll have to wait and see :)


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